Author: twikah

I discovered Google’s Digital Garage while I was still in Portugal and immediately thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn Digital Marketing with the best, learn for free and even get a certificate in the end!

I finally finished it and, of course, took my notes. I wrote them on Qwilr, a platform I had just discovered that turns your documents into web pages with very attractive templates. Or so I thought! A review on Qwilr is scheduled to a later date.

Here is an excerpt from this Zapier article. I found curious that I never took time to think about the differences between these words.

Habits vs. Routines vs. Rituals: Wondering what the difference is between habits, routines, and rituals? Habits are things that we do automatically–things like checking your email first thing in the morning or putting your keys in a specific spot when you get home. Routines are usually a collection of habits or actions you do on a regular basis to bring order to your day–checking your email, then writing your day’s to-do list, then checking your team’s project management tool as a way of getting the day started. Rituals are like routines. The main difference is the attitude behind the actions: Taking a walk everyday at lunch could be considered a routine if you think of it as something you need to do for your productivity. Or it could be a ritual if you think of it as a way to break out of the mundane and enjoy nature. While we’re focusing on habits and routines here, most routines could be turned into rituals with a change of perspective.

My plan is to go remote. I’d love to find a team of awesome people that develops a great product and work remotely in customer support, all the while mastering programming skills.

I don’t know if this dream will ever come true but to make it happen I need to go ahead and start doing something. This blog is my starting point for that. I’m also reading a lot about what it takes to be an exceptional remote worker and about the hazards of the game. When looking for insights on these matters I found Jason Lengstorft and his site lengstorf.com. He is a hero for me. He managed to turn from unhealthy workaholic to achieving his dream of happily working while permanently travelling the world.

I went and explored his site (still am) and found some guides on how to go remote and how to perform well on a remote environment. Jason generously posts lots of useful information on the subject but, for now, I will mention only three of his guides and I’ll craft a summary of his ideas. Let me be clear: his ideas! I’m just an apprentice 😀

Make lists! Writing things down will turn your tasks easier to prioritize and it reduces the stress of having many things to do. Jason recommends a day-to-day list with few tasks to accomplish daily and a master list with your projects in the long run. I already made lists whenever I felt overwhelmed with work but the key is to turn that into a daily habit. It helps you focus on the job and is a good motivator as you’ll feel splendid when you finish. It also helps communicating with your team as it helps reporting on what you’re doing.

Sleep. This one is simple, I’d love to sleep 7 to 8 hours everyday. Jason says that going to work sleep-deprived is the same as going drunk to work, so… Get the habit of sleeping well! It helps if you move away from all your devices 1 hour prior to bedtime so you’ll have time to decompress.

Put your phone down. Disconnect! People look like robots, plugged on their phones at all times. I witness this everyday on my advertising part-time. This need to always check what’s trending and how’s your email is destructive. At home we never check our phones during meals, it improves the time we spend together. Jason recommends using silent, airplane or do-not-disturb modes during certain periods of the day. Leaving your phone will also help you be more productive (read about this below).

Now, regarding the fabulous 6-STEP CHECKLIST on how to go remote:

Step 1: Communication as a default

Do constant updates on your daily list achievements and on your projects. Jason recommends setting a reminder to do it if needed. Also, share what you’re planning on until the next update. This way everybody is on the same page and it’s easier to spot potential problems. Communication builds reliability.

Step 2: Only make promises you can keep

Again, you have to show you’re reliable. If you don’t share the same space as the team then it’s harder for them to get to know you, so learning to commit to goals according to your limits will make people trust you. Jason recommends making only one commitment per day, so you won’t feel overbooked.

Step 3: Measure by results, not hours

Remote work implies autonomy and control over your schedule so being measured by the hour and not by your outcome wouldn’t make sense. Jason recommends: define measurable results for projects and performance reviews that are based on what you produce, now how much time you spend.

Step 4: Master the Art of being productive

The third guide I’ll refer in this post is about productivity. Efficiency is really important in remote work. You’ll have a more valuable work/life balance if you finish our tasks in just a few hours. Moreover, high productivity means bargaining power: as Jason says, this way you’ll be up to set terms and boundaries more easily. For me, this is what I need to improve most!

Step 5: Fight the urge to slack

Planning crystal clear on what is there to do and how to accomplish repels procrastination. Making lists as mentioned above is the key on this step.

Step 6: Make yourself noted

Make your presence known may be more difficult on a remote position but it’s vital to do it. You do it by excel on your communication skills, by being efficient and reliable. This way your team will know what they can count on and you will have a say. Jason mentioned the halo effect (where people see your positive attributes as proof of other positive attributes) and the Pygmalion effect (where you represent yourself as capable, which causes people to expect you to be capable, which causes you to become capable). Asking for a performance review and becoming a resource for the team are also ways to turn awareness on you.

Last but not the least, here is the list of 5 habits to master productivity:

Habit 1: gain willpower

Again, making lists everyday and make them clear and feasible. Your willpower vanishes throughout the day, so start your day with the meaningful and bigger tasks. Starting your day like this creates a positive willpower cycle, instead of losing your morning vitality with few little tasks, you’ll feel great that you accomplished something big.

Habit 2: Use triggers to improve your routine

Do not waste your time between tasks, use them in your favour. Create habit triggers that will cause you to be more productive. For example, today I deleted a game from my phone because it was messing with my commute time (not only commute time!). I like to use my commute time to read articles on Medium or a book, which are self-improving tasks. The last few days there was no room for reading, only for Tap Tap Fish. I couldn’t help but playing so I went drastic on it and deleted it. The goal is to not think on what you have to do but it coming to you naturally instead.

Habit 3: Distance yourself from work at times

You need to take breaks from your work. If you’re always wired to it you’ll lose excitement and it’ll be harder to separate life from work. A day off lessens your stress levels, freshens your mind and enhances productivity.

Habit 4: Positive pressure and efficiency

Productivity can increase by setting little goals. You can use a timer to work in timed blocks; Jason works in 90 minute blocks but I heard about “The Pomodoro Technique” as well. During these blocks of time we won’t have distractions – no email, no chats, no social media. If you set the time and define one mission for that block, you’ll be much more productive because you’ll want to finished that task faster. Other ways to set timers are arranging meetings with friends or taking your computer to work somewhere leaving the charger behind.

Habit 5: Stay focused

People around you, your colleagues, your phone, social media are only some of your distractions. To keep them from making you lose focus, you can use tools like silence, airplane or do-not-disturb modes when working. Getting noise cancelling headphones is a plus and Jason also recommends Noisli when he’s on work blocks. Tools like RescueTime monitors the time you spend on your computer and assesses your productivity.

Disclaimer: My summary is only my view on what’s most important for me from Jason’s guides. You should still read them all and visit his site. These are just my notes so I can rely on them whenever I want.

I am on the other side of the world. To those who don’t know me, I’ve just quit my job in Portugal and moved to Australia. I don’t know if I lost my mind. If you knew me some years ago, you’d never think I’d leave my reliable and stable job and just roam around in another country, starting from scratch. Yet, here I am!

The first couple of days were tough. First, the jet lag. Then, start looking for work. Realising that everything in Melbourne is more expensive. Missing people. It’s hard! Finally, on my third day delivering résumés, I stumbled on two nice girls in the street from an advertising company called Streetfighter Media. I asked them for some contact to whom I could reach to see if there were vacancies in the team and BAM! I managed to get a job on my fourth day in Melbourne. It’s not the dream job but I get to have fun while promoting brands and I meet lots of nice people. Pretty cool for a new beginning!

It’s not even been two weeks since I arrived. I’m still adapting but I’m not so afraid of misunderstanding people any more. I plan on finding more work, all the while writing more posts about my new city and about my programming studies. I’ll post findings from the books I read and from inspiring people as well.

My name is Vanessa, I’m currently changing my life in a lot of ways such as:

I left my job because I couldn’t keep up with the place’s culture;

As a result of that I applied for a 1-year VISA to Australia and it’s granted, so I’ll live abroad for the first time in my life;

I’m learning how to become a tech girl because I want to work remotely in the future and my opinion is that it will be easier if I’m familiar with programming and stuff;

I’m considering minimalism as a lifestyle to pursue.

So, while I wait unemployed to travel to Melbourne, I’m using my time to improve in the tech thing. I tried to build a WordPress theme as a way of starting my portfolio but I realised that I don’t know enough HTML, PHP, CSS and JS to get it done. Then, I decided to make my own website first, as a way of starting my portfolio as well but in a easier way.

Right now I’m considering developing my site in Ruby on Rails because I stumbled on railsgirls.com. The purpose of this blog is to log my journey and hopefully register my progress. It is also for getting people to know me, of course 🙂

Today I’m leaving this piece of inspiration here, so I won’t forget that all I need… is to start!